I'm a good person!

I agree with the others here Stephanie.

You have no way of knowing why he was watching you and he has no way
of knowing you are honest.

He may have just enjoyed looking at you.

So if he worked there why didn't you ask for help?

What does a shoplifter look like? I work in retail and can't tell you
how many times I've seen people arrested who looked "normal" and had
their kids with them. S shoplifer could be the boogie man or the pious
church lady. One time an idiot ran out when he was spotted and left
his child behind.

Unless he's a mind reader how is he supposed to know what kind of
person you are?

And if you're so upset why didn't you speak to a manager?

One more thing. You left out the location.

Instead of my focus being on how it's important for stores to control
theft, how there is not perfect profile for a theif, or your
feelings... I'm going to focus on how to deal effectively with these
situations.

First, I'm going to assume that this man was wearing a Target badge.
It'd be bad for you to blame Target because some random person was
acting oddly.

Simply walk up to the person and ask, nicely, "Can I help you with
something?" Don't say it in a nasty or accusatory way. You might
need to practice this to get it down right. Remember, your goal
really is to find out what the man wants and how you can resolve his
concerns for him.

Likely, he will say "No, thank you" or something like that. Most
likely, he will back off. This doesn't mean that he won't stop
watching you. But once he's backed off, that should not be your
concern. You are under obversation all of the time. Just deal with
it.

Do not say "I'm not going to steal."

Aw heck... I'm going to address some of the things I said I wouldn't.

Your feelings were hurt, it seems, because you felt like someone
mistook you for a thief. If you're not a thief, then this shouldn't
matter. In fact, this is a perfect chance to show that you're an
honest person and just deal with it. Once he determines that you're
fine, he'll move on to someone else.

Who knows why he picked you. Perhaps it was a slower day and everyone
that goes to the jewlery counter is watched for a bit. Perhaps you
accidentally did something that looked like a thief move. I know.
This is crazy, but even the most innocent of things can be perceived
as potential for wrongdoing by someone who's job it is to look for
such things. For example, putting your purse on the counter might
have been a totally normal thing. However, thiefs do this was well,
to get their bad close to the goods.

I served on a jury for shoplifting a few years ago. I learned quite a
bit about surveillance, tricks that thiefs use, and so forth. And,
gosh, most of the "moves" used by thiefs are things that seemed
totally normal and natural to me.

In the end, your feelings are not the problem of Target. Not that
they shouldn't care (for hurting a customer), but they are not in
control of your emotions. You are the only one that can decide "I'm
hurt" or "thank goodness that this store takes security seriously."

Your rights weren't violated and, the way you tell it, I don't think
you were particularly put out.

A person who "very moral" is not someone that should feel bad when
someone observed them. A peson who is "very moral" is someone who
knows that they are doing right and ignores being observed.

Your last statement says it all. You seem not to object to
observation, after all. What you object to is knowing. Doesn't that
make you feel just a little bit foolish?

Not to downplay your feelings but what does a corrupt person look
like? What does a thief look like? The truth is they look like
everyone else. Do you know that some shoplifters actually bring their
children with them?

How do you know that is what he was watching you for? Maybe he found
you attractive or was bored? I'm not trying to patronize you, I just
wonder besides the strangeness of it, how did you know specifically
that it was exactly what he was doing.